Pakistan To Finally Embrace Solar Power Auctions

21.03.2017

Perhaps motivated by the massive crash in the solar power tariff bids across the world, Pakistan is set to shift from feed-in tariff mechanism to competitive auctions in the solar power sector.

Pakistan’s National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) is reported to have approved the implementation of competitive auctions for solar power projects. The move could bring solar power tariffs in the country crashing, as has been the case all across the world.

Even with a 25% reduction in feed-in tariff in late 2015 the solar power prices in Pakistan remain significantly higher than those in developing markets. Beginning January 1, 2016, NEPRA had reduced feed-in tariffs from 14.15-15.02¢/kWh to 11.35-11.53¢/kWh in the northern part of the country and 10.72-10.89¢/kWh in the southern part of the country.

Several project developers had expressed concerns regarding this correction in tariffs claiming that the move would hamper future investments in the country’s renewable energy sector. The latest move has seen a similar response from project developers. In their comments submitted to NEPRA’s proposal, developers claimed that the market is not ready to make the transition to competitive auctions.

Pakistan does not have to look very far to see the benefits of competitive auctions over feed-in tariff mechanism. The lowest solar power tariff bids in neighboring India currently stand at around 5.00¢/kWh. A project currently under construction in the Indian side of Thar Desert, an arid region shared by the two countries, was secured at a tariff bid of 6.50¢/kWh. The lowest solar tariff bid in the world stands at 2.42¢/kWh.

Solar power has immense potential and a major role to play in Pakistan’s power market. Pakistan currently faces a shortfall of around 6,000 megawatts. It has been forced to import electricity from neighboring Iran. The volume of import from Iran stands at 100 megawatts, but Pakistan plans to increase it to 3,000 megawatts.

Source: cleantechnica.com

Greenpeace Praises Dubai Over Solar Energy Park Milestone

21.03.2017

Campaign group Greenpeace has praised Dubai on the completion of the second phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

Julien Jreissati, Arab World campaigner at Greenpeace Mediterranean, said the solar energy park helped bring about the realisation the era of oil and other dirty energies will be ended soon, even in fossil-fuel producing countries.

He said: “The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park constitutes a renewable energy landmark just like Noor Ouarzazate in Morocco and will contribute in fulfilling Dubai’s ambition to become a green technology hub.

“We expect even more from Dubai as it has the potential to be the first city in the Arab world to commit to 100 per cent renewable energy and to completely break free from fossil fuels in the near future.”

The solar park will power 50,000 homes thanks to 2.3 million panels spread across 4.5 square kilometres of desert.

It will also be the largest single-site solar power plant in the world, with a total capacity of 5,000 megawatts when it is completed in 2030.

Source: thenational.ae

Scientists Sound the Alarm: CO2 Levels Race Past Point of No Return

21.03.2017

carbon-storage — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that carbon dioxide levels in 2016 broke records for the second year in a row with an increase of 3 parts per million (ppm).

The measurements are coming from the Mauna Loa Baseline Atmospheric Observatory in Hawaii and were confirmed by NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. The numbers show that the rate of CO2 in the atmosphere is now at 405.1 ppm, the highest it has been in more than 10,000 years. Pieter Tans, lead scientist of NOAA’s Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network, said the findings are accurate and disturbing.

“The rate of CO2 growth over the last decade is 100 to 200 times faster than what the Earth experienced during the transition from the last Ice Age,” Tans said in a press release. “This is a real shock to the atmosphere.”

A shock, indeed. An atmosphere of 400 ppm is dubbed the “carbon threshold,” a point of no return. To sum it up, levels this high throw the whole balance of the climate cycle into chaos, making it more difficult to predict climate changes and causing sea level rise, severe tropical storms, drought and flooding.

Emissions from fossil-fuel consumption have remained at historically high levels since 2011, and according to Tans, these emissions are contributing to the dramatic spike in atmospheric CO2 levels, which, up until the industrial revolution in 1760, averaged about 280 ppm.

Even if humans were to stop burning fossil fuels today, the carbon will continue to be trapped for at least the next few decades. Back in October 2016, when levels finally reached the 400 ppm threshold, Tans said, “It’s unlikely we’ll ever see CO2 below 400 ppm during our lifetime and probably much longer.”

Source: ecowatch.com

Germany Converts Coal Mine Into Giant Battery Storage for Surplus Solar and Wind Power

21.03.2017

Germany is embarking on an innovative project to turn a hard coal mine into a giant battery that can store surplus solar and wind energy and release it when supplies are lean.

The Prosper-Haniel coal mine in the German state of North-Rhine Westphalia will be converted into a 200 megawatt pumped-storage hydroelectric reservoir that acts like a giant battery. The capacity is enough to power more than 400,000 homes, Governor Hannelore Kraft said, according to Bloomberg.

Founded in 1863, the Prosper-Haniel coal mine produces 3,000,000t/y of coal and is one of the few active coal mines remaining in Germany. But the mine is slated for closure in 2018, when federal subsidies for the industry dry up.

Kraft said that the miners in the town of Bottrop will remain employed at the site as it converts to its new function.

Pumped-storage facilities are not a new idea, as such systems are already in operation around the world. However, this is the first time that a coal mine will be used as part of the infrastructure.

Engadget explained how such a facility would work:
Similar to a standard hydroelectric power plant, pumped hydroelectric storage stations generate power by releasing water from a reservoir through a turbine to a second reservoir at a lower altitude. Rather than releasing the outflow, however, the water is then stored in the lower reservoira until it can be pumped back up to the top reservoir using cheaper, off-peak power or another renewable energy source. In the case of the Prosper-Haniel plant, the lower reservoir will be made up of more than 16 miles of mine shafts that reach up to 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) deep. The station’s 200 megawatts of hydroelectric power would fit into a mix of biomass, solar and wind power. It’s not a perpetual motion machine, but the water stored in the surface reservoir will effectively act as as backup “battery” that could kick in and fill any gaps in the energy mix whenever the other sources fall short.

Germany’s ambitious “Energiewende,” or energy transition, aims for at least an 80 percent share of renewables by 2050, with intermediate targets of 35 to 40 percent share by 2025 and 55 to 60 percent by 2035.

The country is well on track, as renewables supplied nearly 33 percent of German electricity in 2015, according to Agora Energiewende.

Germany has such an impressive renewable energy mix that last year, on a particularly windy and sunny day, so much power was generated that people were paid to use it.

And while that’s good news for the environment and German consumers alike, renewable energy has a well known storage problem. The electricity produced by, say, wind turbines or solar panels must be used or else it’s lost. On the flip side, renewables might not be able to meet demand on cloudy days with no wind.

Batteries, working as pumped-storage facilities, are a promising solution to this problem, since they store excess renewable energy on productive days and discharge it during energy shortfalls.

“We have a very sympathetic ear” to sustainable and cost-effective storage, Governor Kraft said in a March 14 speech in Dusseldorf.

More mines could be converted into industrial-scale storage facilities as North-Rhine Westphalia seeks to double the share of renewables in its power mix to 30 percent by 2025, Kraft said.

Source: ecowatch.com

Scottish Government Grants Planning Approval to Latest Floating Wind Farm

20.03.2017

The Scottish government’s plans to establish the country as a world-leading hub for floating wind turbine technology took another step forward last week when planning approval was granted for the third demonstration project in Scottish waters.

On Friday, Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy Paul Wheelhouse approved planning consent for two turbine Dounreay Trì Floating Wind Demonstration Project, which will be located approximately six km off the Caithness coastline.

The move follows recent planning approval for the Kincardine Floating Offshore Wind farm and last year’s consent for the Hywind Scotland Pilot.

The government said it has now approved floating turbine projects boasting 92MW of capacity, establishing the country as “a world centre for this innovative technology”.

The latest project is being developed by Swedish engineering firm Hexicon, which has pioneered an innovative approach to installing multiple turbines on floating structures.

The project is expected to create around 100 jobs during the construction and installation process, before delivering enough clean power for around 8,000 homes.

“Once operational, this demonstrator project will help to develop this pioneering technology and cement Scotland’s reputation at the forefront of innovation in the renewables sector,” said Wheelhouse. “With the consent for this project, the Scottish Government has now approved a total of 92MW of floating offshore wind, enough to power almost 60,000 homes. This not only highlights our commitment to exploring this innovative technology, but offers real scope for the development of wind energy projects in deeper water, in Scotland and across the world.”

Marcus Thor, Dounreay Project Director, said the installation could help open up a major new market that promises to significantly reduce the cost of offshore wind power. “It is fantastic news for Hexicon that the Dounreay Tri project has permission to proceed,” he said. “We are grateful that Scotland is taking positive steps to lead in the development of this innovative technology. Hexicon is encouraged that this demonstration plant will lead to the deployment of many more floating wind farms around the world.”

The cost of offshore wind power has already fallen by about a third in the past four years as the industry has scaled up. But advocates of the technology are confident floating turbines can deliver significant further cost savings by removing the need for costly foundations and allowing wind farms to access deeper waters where winds are stronger and more reliable.

Hexicon said the next step for the Dounreay is to work towards a final investment decision that would allow the project to be constructed, installed and commissioned by 1 September 2018 under the terms of the Obligation Certification regime.

Source: businessgreen.com

3 Cities Prove Climate Action Works

20.03.2017

Obnovljivi grad — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

The climate crisis is a problem caused by humans that can be solved by humans. These three cities are proving it.

While a lot of media coverage around the crisis is doom and gloom, cities around the world are coming up with powerful solutions on the local level. Here’s how a Canadian city, an American city and a Chinese city are taking on climate action.

1. North America’s First Renewably Powered City

Vancouver’s ambitious vision to power the city entirely on renewable energy will help curb emissions from its two biggest emitters: transport and buildings.

Vancouver is the first city in North America to develop a renewable city strategy to derive 100 percent of the city’s entire energy needs from renewable sources by 2050. To achieve this goal, the city is prioritizing efforts around reducing emissions from its most polluting sectors, buildings and transportation and increasing the use and supply of renewables. In the transport sector, this includes measures such as the promotion of renewably powered car-sharing fleets and the development of standards to support renewably powered private vehicles. Simultaneously, retrofits of existing buildings and ensuring the grid energy supply is 100-percent renewable will spur the clean energy shift for the city’s building stock.

Underpinning the strategy is an innovative energy system model that maps energy demand across the year and by time of day, matching it with an energy supply model to identify the most economical ways energy demand can be met by renewable sources. In this way, Vancouver is using cutting-edge technology—employed for the first time by a municipality—to solve pressing energy concerns and guide plans for a 100 percent renewable future.

The Result: 80 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, from 2007 levels, by 2050 due to the renewable city strategy.

2. Legal Ordinance for Solar-Powered Buildings

New York City’s government agencies are now legally required to assess potential solar PV retrofits at all municipal buildings.

In 2016, New York City passed a law requiring local government agencies to assess all city-owned rooftops for solar photovoltaic (PV) potential, in order to support the city’s goal to install 100 MW of solar PV on municipal property by 2025. Agencies must report on factors including the potential reduction in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, the financing of the project and whether buildings’ rooftops are suitable for a solar installation. In keeping track of the projects, the city will also take into consideration the financial savings accruing from CO2 emissions reductions in order to better reflect the value of the retrofits.

To date, the city has installed 8.8 MW of solar PV across 52 municipal buildings. Informed by the government agencies’ evaluations, New York City plans to develop a strategy to expand the initiative to 4,000 city-owned buildings, which include schools, hospitals, libraries, courthouses, firehouses, offices, police precincts, wastewater treatment plants and recreation centers and which will help the city reach its goal to reduce citywide greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

The Result: 35,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions will be reduced by solar projects by 2025.

3. Low-Carbon Megacity Encourages Green Growth

Guangzhou is planning for an increasing population and rising demand for energy with a multi-sector, low-carbon plan for green growth, targeting industry, infrastructure and buildings.

Guangzhou, a megacity with a population exceeding 13 million, is still in a stage of rapid economic development and urban construction. In 2012, Guangzhou launched the Pilot Low Carbon City Implementation Plan in an effort to reduce greenhouse emissions through systematic measures in the growing city. The plan includes the elimination of outdated industrial capacity and equipment and the promotion of energy-efficient technologies and green, low-carbon buildings. Transport infrastructure is also being targeted, with a new public transport system mainly based on rail transit.

Both market mechanisms, such as limiting entry permits for high-carbon projects to control greenhouse gas emissions, and institutional mechanisms, such as stricter emissions standards, have been used to promote low-carbon development under the plan. Green industries have developed quickly in the city, with an added value of $4.2 billion in 2014, an 11.1 percent increase compared to the previous year. As a commitment to the plan, Guangzhou announced in 2015 it will reach its carbon emissions peak by 2020.

The Result: 35.9M tons of CO2 emissions reduced between 2010 and 2014.

Source: ecowatch.com

Almost 90 Per Cent of US Rooftops Suitable for Solar Power, Google Finds

20.03.2017

Almost 90 per cent of rooftops in the US catch enough sunlight to be suitable for generating solar power, analysis by Google has found.

The tech giant’s ‘Project Sunroof’ initiative has analysed around 60 million buildings across all 50 US states since 2015, concluding that 79 per cent are technically viable for generating solar power – meaning the rooftops have enough unshaded area for PV panels.

The initiative found over 90 per cent of homes in Hawaii, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico were technically viable for solar rooftop PV, while buildings in states including Pennsylvania, Maine and Minnesota have closer to 60 per cent suitability.

According to the data, Houston in Texas has the most solar panel potential of any US city, with an estimated 18.940GWh of rooftop solar generation potential a year, just ahead of the cities of Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Antonio and New York.

Putting that into perspective, Google highlighted US Energy Information Administration data showing the average US home consumes almost 11GWh per year, meaning a single gigawatt of power is enough to supply 90 average homes for an entire year.

Google said it used satellite imagery from its Google Maps and Google Earth services alongside 3D modelling and machine learning for the research, while calculating and taking into account weather patterns and the position of the sun at different parts of the year.

The data suggests that if the top 10 US cities for solar potential installed their full PV capacity, they would produce enough energy to power eight million homes across the US each year.

Google itself is aiming to ensure its business and operations are powered by 100 per cent renewable electricity this year, making it one of the largest purchasers of renewables in the world.

In related news, executive chairman of Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc., Eric Schmidt, last week praised a reported breakthrough in fast-charging, long-lasting battery technology achieved by the original co-inventor of the lithium-ion battery, Professor John Goodenough.

The University of Texas at Austin recently revealed that 94-year old Goodenough – an engineering professor at the institution – led a team of engineers who have developed the ‘first’ all-solid-state battery cells, which they say could lead to safer, faster-charging, longer-lasting rechargeable batteries for handheld devices, electric cars, and stationary energy storage.

According to the University, the research – which was completed by Goodenough alongside senior research fellow Maria Helena Braga – demonstrated that the new battery cells have at least three times as much energy density as existing lithium-ion batteries commonly used today.

Energy density determines an electric vehicle’s driving range, so an EV with a higher energy density can travel for longer between charges, Goodenough explained. The breakthrough has also improved the battery formulation to allow a greater number of charges, thereby improving the battery’s life cycle and speeding up its recharge time.

Goodenough and his team are now working on several patents for the battery technology and hope to work with battery makers to help develop and test materials in EVs and storage devices.

“Cost, safety, energy density, rates of charge and discharge and cycle life are critical for battery-driven cars to be more widely adopted,” Goodenough said. “We believe our discovery solves many of the problems that are inherent in today’s batteries.”

Source: businessgreen.com

CO2 Emissions Stay Same for Third Year in Row – Despite Global Economy Growing

20.03.2017

Carbon dioxide emissions from energy have not increased for three years in a row even as the global economy grew, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.

Global emissions from the energy sector were 32.1bn tonnes in 2016, the same as the previous two years, while the economy grew 3.1%, the organisation said.

The IEA put the halt in growth down to growing renewable power generation, switches from coal to natural gas and improvements in energy efficiency but said it is too soon to say that global emissions have peaked.

The biggest drop was seen in the US, where carbon dioxide emissions fell 3%, while the economy grew 1.6%, following a surge in shale gas supplies and more renewable power that displaced coal.

US emissions are at their lowest level since 1992, while the economy has grown 80% since that time.

Carbon dioxide output also declined in China, by 1%, and were stable in Europe, offsetting increases in most of the rest of the world, the IEA said.

Dr Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, said: “These three years of flat emissions in a growing global economy signal an emerging trend and that is certainly a cause for optimism, even if it is too soon to say that global emissions have definitely peaked.

“They are also a sign that market dynamics and technological improvements matter. This is especially true in the United States, where abundant shale gas supplies have become a cheap power source.”

In China, coal demand declined as renewables, nuclear and natural gas increased in the power sector.

There was also a switch from coal to gas in industry and buildings driven by government policies to tackle air pollution.

Emissions in the EU were largely stable as gas demand grew 8% and coal fell by 10%.

The UK saw a significant coal-to-gas switch in the power sector in the face of cheaper gas and a carbon price floor which makes polluting coal a more expensive source of energy, the IEA said.

The pause in emissions growth was welcomed by the IEA, but it warned it was not enough to meet globally-agreed targets to limit temperature rises to below 2C above pre-industrial levels – considered to be the threshold for dangerous climate change.

Source: theguardian.com

Eating Healthier Food Could Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

19.03.2017

Povrće, Ishrana, Paprika, Smederevac — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

Eating healthier food could reduce greenhouse gas emissions, suggests a new study. As it turns out, some relatively small diet tweaks could add up to significant inroads in addressing climate change.

You are what you eat, as the saying goes, and while good dietary choices boost your own health, they also could improve the health care system and even benefit the planet. Healthier people mean not only less disease but also reduced greenhouse gas emissions from health care.

As it turns out, some relatively small diet tweaks could add up to significant inroads in addressing climate change.

That’s the finding of a new study led by UC Santa Barbara researchers, who analyzed the potential effects of healthier model diets for the United States. The results appear in the journal Climatic Change.

“To my knowledge, this is the first time anyone has done this,” said study director David Cleveland, a research professor in UCSB’s environmental studies program and geography department. “People have looked at what effect diets have both on climate and on health, but they’ve never examined the potential to mitigate climate change through the food system and the health care system together.”

The food system contributes about 30 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, with the largest proportion coming from animal-based food. In addition, the poor quality of the standard U.S. diet — including high levels of red and processed meat and low levels of fruits and vegetables — is a major factor in a number of preventable diseases. The U.S. spends $3 trillion on health care every year — 18 percent of the gross domestic product — much of it allocated to diseases associated with poor diets.

Cleveland and colleagues first used data from published meta-analyses that examined the effect of foods on diseases. Then, using life-cycle assessment data for the foods that changed in the healthier model diets, they analyzed the effects of the diets on greenhouse gas emissions for the food system. For the health care system, the researchers estimated the change in risk of diabetes, colorectal cancer and coronary heart disease due to the healthier diets and the subsequent effect on both health care costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

To create healthier model diets, the researchers altered the standard 2,000-calorie-a-day U.S. diet, changing the sources of about half of those calories. The different model diets progressively reduced the amount of red and processed meats, with the most stringent diet eliminating them completely. Fruit and vegetable intake was doubled, and peas and beans increased to replace the meat protein removed. Refined grains were partially replaced with whole grains. Added sugar, which Cleveland noted is a known health risk, was not reduced. Neither was dairy, eggs, fish or non-red meat.

“This means our estimates are probably very conservative, both in terms of health and climate change implications,” Cleveland said. “Just changing half of the diet and including only some of the diseases associated with diets, we found a huge effect.

“Food has a tremendous impact on the environment,” he added. “That means that there is enormous potential for our food choices to have positive effects on our environment as well on our health and our health care costs.”

That is exactly what the scientists found. The adoption of healthier model diets reduced the relative risk of coronary heart disease, colorectal cancer and Type 2 diabetes by 20 to 40 percent. Health care costs went down by $77 billion to $93 billion annually and direct greenhouse gas emissions dropped by 222 kilograms to 826 kilograms per person per year.

“In the third diet — which contained no red or processed meats — there was a savings of $95 billion out of the total annual cost of $230 billion for those three diseases,” Cleveland explained. “That’s not huge compared to the $3 trillion total in health care costs, but it’s a start. Results like these can also help motivate individual and policy changes.”

In terms of climate policy, the healthier diets could contribute up to 23 percent of the U.S. Climate Action Plan goal to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, Cleveland said. Further, the diets could generate up to 134 percent of California’s goal of reaching 1990 emission levels by 2020.

According to Cleveland, the findings add weight to the conclusion of several other recent studies: Diet change must be part of successful climate change mitigation policies, and climate change mitigation must be included in policies to improve the food system.

This creates an important opportunity for the University of California, Cleveland noted. “The UC Carbon Neutrality Initiative should have a major focus on climate change mitigation via the food system,” he said. “And the UC Global Food Initiative should have a major focus on the relationships among food, climate and health.”

(source: Science Daily)

This River is the First River Given Legal Status as a Person (PHOTO) (VIDEO)

18.03.2017

Whanganui river, New Zealand — Foto: Pixabay

New Zealand has recognized the Whanganui River as a legal person.

On Wednesday, New Zealand Parliament passed the Te Awa Tupua Bill which states that the river is “an indivisible and living whole,” making it the world’s first river to be given this special designation.

The river has been granted the ability to represent itself through human representatives, one appointed by the Whanganui Iwi (Maori people) and one by the Crown (government of New Zealand), Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson explained to Newshub.

“I know some people will say it’s pretty strange to give a natural resource a legal personality, but it’s no stranger than family trusts, or companies, or incorporated societies,” Finlayson added.

Similarly, New Zealand’s Te Urewera national park also has “all the rights, powers, duties and liabilities of a legal person,” thanks to the Te Urewera Act.

More than 200 descendants of the Whanganui Iwi witnessed the bill’s passage. Songs were sung and tears were shed after Parliament’s third and final reading of the bill.

The decision marks the end of New Zealand’s longest-running court case, as the Whanganui Iwi have long fought for the recognition of their authority over the river.

Historic day for my beloved awa. The Whanganui River Claims Settlement Bill passes into law after its final reading today. Tears will flow. pic.twitter.com/eWQxbRpgsy
— Rachel Stewart (@RFStew) March 14, 2017

“Since the mid-1850s Whanganui Iwi have challenged the Crown’s impact on the health and wellbeing of the river and those who lived on it, and have fought to have their rights and their relationship with the River recognized,” said Gerrard Albert, Whanganui Iwi spokesperson, in a statement.

“Eighty years ago Whanganui Iwi started what was to become the longest running court case in New Zealand history over who owned the bed of the river. It has been a long, hard battle,” he continued. “We have always believed that the Whanganui River is an indivisible and living whole—Te Awa Tupua—which includes all its physical and spiritual elements from the mountains of the central North Island to the sea.”

The Whanganui River in the North Island of New Zealand is the country’s third-longest river and a culturally and spiritually important entity to the area’s tribes. According to a government website:

“The tribes of Whanganui take their name, their spirit and their strength from the great river which flows from the mountains of the central North Island to the sea. For centuries the people have travelled the Whanganui River by canoe, caught eels in it, built villages on its banks, and fought over it. The people say, ‘Ko au te awa. Ko te awa ko au’ (I am the river. The river is me).”

The bill includes $80 million (about USD$56 million) financial redress payment and another $30 million from the Crown to “promote the health and well-being” of the river.

Albert said that the Whanganui Iwi looks forward to working closely with other Iwi, local government, the Crown and other parties with an interest in the future of the river.

“It has taken us a century-and-a-half to get to this point. We will take a steady, calm and methodical approach to the next steps,” he said. “While today we close the book on this part of our history, tomorrow we start writing a new one.”

(source: Eco Watch)

Germany’s MEP Werke to Add EVs to Solar Leasing Business

17.03.2017

MEP Werke, the German clean energy company that allows customers to rent their rooftop solar panels in exchange for a monthly fee, has revealed plans to add electric vehicle leasing to its offering in a bid to boost the business case for domestic solar installations.

The firm, which launched its solar leasing business in 2013 now has 4,000 customers in Germany and 18MW of installed solar capacity, will this month start testing the market for customers to add a 10-year lease for a Peugeout iOn electric car to their monthly solar plan.

Adding an EV will make the most financial sense for customers with solar installations of around 4kWp or higher as it will allow them to maximise the use of the power tey generate, MEP Werke said. The service will initiallycost €272 per month, but the cost could come down if MEP Werke negotiates to add more models with different leasing terms in the future.

The move was prompted by cuts to solar subsidies in Germany, which mean exporting clean energy back to the grid is far less lucrative than it once was.

“In the past, there has been much more state support for solar energy,” MEP Werke chief executive Konstantin Strasser told BusinessGreen. “The best you could do was producing as much solar energy as possible and sell it into the grid at very attractive compensations. Nowadays, with the compensations being much smaller, we need new business models that make it again attractive for the consumers.”

Adding electric vehicles to a domestic solar package is a “natural advancement” for the firm, Strasser said.

“Our motivation is now to add further energy projects in order to enable our customers to not only produce their own green energy but to also use most of it by themselves in an efficient way,” he said. “EV is just perfect for that as you can use the EV as a mobile energy storage unit. With that you do not only maximise your energy self-consumption and have your solar energy system amortized much earlier, you can also drive with your energy and save costs for fuel. In the near future it will even be possible to return the stored energy into the house.”

Following a test phase MEP Werke plans to roll out the EV offer nationwide as an optional addition to solar leases. The company said it will act as the intermediary for the initiative, with its direct leasing partner named as SIXT Leasing. “MEP Werke will be the intermediary, responsible for all marketing and sales activities, enabling our customers to get the full package from the solar power system to smart metering and EV,” it said.

The move echoes the ambitions of US rival SolarCity, which was bought last year by Tesla as part of Elon Musk’s plan to offer “end-to-end” clean energy products, with solar panels, EVs and energy storage all on offer.

Over time MEP Werke said it will “steadily enlarge” its solar leasing business, citing plans to add energy-efficient white goods and energy storage to its offer.

Source: businessgreen.com

Reports: Renault Shares Drop Amid Emissions Testing Allegations

17.03.2017

Renault-Zoe — Foto: Renault Nissan Srbija

Shares in Renault plunged by as much as six per cent yesterday amid reports the French carmaker is being investigated for allegedly breaking emissions testing rules.

According to various reports, Renault could potentially face hefty fines from French authorities probing two of its car models – Captur and Clio IV – which have allegedly shown emissions levels around 300 per cent higher in real world driving conditions than in lab tests.

Moreover, French media have suggested the car giant’s entire senior management team could be embroiled in the accusations.

The news follows the high-profile allegations in 2015 against German car maker Volkswagen, which just this week pleaded guilty to charges of fraud in the US as part of a $4.3bn settlement.

Renault however dismissed “unbalanced” media reports, adding that it would not comment on a current investigation and therefore could not confirm the “veracity, completeness and reliability” of the information being reported.

“Renault will prove its compliance with the regulations and reserves its explanations for the judges in charge of investigating this case,” the carmaker said in a statement. “Groupe Renault reminds that none of its services has breached European or national regulations related to vehicle homologations. Renault vehicles are not equipped with cheating software affecting anti-pollution systems.”

The firm added that it would fully cooperate with the judges in an investigation it said raised “issues of interpretation of the standards governing the conditions of vehicle homologations”.

It follows reports last year the French car firm could phase out most of its diesel car models in Europe in response to the rising costs of meeting tighter EU emissions test regulations.

Greenpeace UK air pollution campaigner Mel Evans said the allegations against Renault and the Volkswagen ‘dieselgate’ scandal suggested there could be problems with emissions testing across the wider car manufacturing sector, and called on the industry to put a greater focus on EVs.

“The car industry has a lot to answer for,” said Evans. “While car companies keep selling new models that pollute more than they should, people living in UK cities are breathing illegal levels of air pollution that are harmful to health. If the car industry were serious about clean cars, they would stop making diesel cars completely and go 100 per cent electric.”

Source: businessgreen.com

5 Cities Leading the Charge on Climate Action

17.03.2017

San Francisko — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

The sheer number of people who live in cities now and who are expected to move into them in the coming years is startling. Around two-thirds of the world’s population is predicted to live in an urban area by 2050, which means there are also major financial implications when extreme weather like unexpected storms and flooding cause disruptions in businesses and governments.

The good news is that while cities are particularly at risk from the climate crisis, they are also behind some of the most powerful solutions. That’s why we’re taking a look at five of our favorite sustainable cities in the world and the steps they’ve taken to become leaders in clean energy and climate solutions.

1. Copenhagen, Denmark

Copenhagen is often ranked as one of the greenest cities on the planet. Why? For starters, in 2009 the city set a goal to become the world’s first carbon neutral capital by 2025 as part of its CPH 2025 Climate Plan. Copenhagen has focused on reducing energy consumption in a variety of ways, including using an energy-efficient district heating system that connects to nearly every household and innovative cooling systems that save around 70 percent of the energy compared to traditional air conditioning.

Copenhagen has also focused on reducing emissions and improving the health of its residents by improving mobility, integrating transport and building what’s known as a super cycle highways. Super cycle highways and other bike lanes around the city have led to 45 percent of the city’s residents commuting by bike every day.

2. San Francisco, California

It’s no secret that San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area are a serious tech-hub and home to some of the most innovative companies in the world, including Salesforce, Airbnb, Uber and Twitter. Innovations in technologies to improve energy efficiency in buildings and enhance its transportation system have helped make San Francisco a leader in sustainability and clean energy. Just look at the city’s public transit system: it’s not uncommon to see hybrid-electric buses driving down the city’s streets and more than half of all MUNI buses and light rails are zero-emission.

The Bay Area has also cut its water consumption drastically in recent years. As California has battled serious droughts, San Franciscans have reduced their water consumption to around 49 gallons of water per day on average (the national average is 80-100 gallons per day). These conservation tactics and other advances in sustainable food, recycling and composting are expected to help San Francisco reach its goal of becoming zero waste by 2020.

3. Vancouver, Canada

Vancouver has been on the forefront of environmental activism for decades. In 1990, it became one of the first North American cities to outwardly address the climate crisis by releasing a report called The Clouds of Change. This was just the beginning of an environmental strategy that Vancouver released years later in 2012, the Greenest City Action Plan, which set 10 goals to achieve by 2020, including increasing green jobs, reducing community-based greenhouse gas emissions and expanding green buildings around the city.

Additionally, Vancouver has committed to getting 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2050. This goal is particularly bold given that it targets all forms of energy in the city—including heating, cooling and transport—not just electricity. The city’s focus on clean energy and sustainability has led it to have the lowest greenhouse gas emissions per person of any major North American city. Between making sustainable improvements to neighborhoods’ energy consumption, striving for zero waste and continuing to develop its successful Greenest City Action Plan, Vancouver has set the stage for businesses and residents to work together to be one of the greenest and most climate change resilient cities on Earth.

4. Stockholm, Sweden

Stockholm is a growing city that seeks to be an attractive home for newcomers and do good for the planet at the same time. Awarded the first “European Green Capital” recognition by the European Commission in 2010, Stockholm aims to be fossil-fuel free by 2050.

How does the city plan to reach this goal? One component is Sweden’s shift from oil to “district” heating, which means the nation now uses heat from centralized sources (such as a power station) to more efficiently heat and cool its buildings. District heating alone accounts for more than 80 percent of heating and hot water in apartments today and is one of the key factors in how Sweden has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions in recent years.

Another reason for Stockholm’s success with sustainable living is its residents, who pride themselves on being “climate-smart.” Eight out of 10 residents feel the city should urge citizens to live more environmentally-friendly and believe being climate-smart should be a natural part of living in a city (we do too!).

5. Singapore

With a population of more than five million people, Singapore is often recognized as one of the most forward-thinking green cities in Asia. The city-state has developed a Sustainable Development Blueprint, which outlines sustainability goals leading up to 2030. The targets include improving energy efficiency by 35 percent, ensuring 80 percent of its buildings are certified green and having 80 percent of households be within a 10-minute walk to a train station.

Singapore has also improved its sustainability by making drastic changes in transportation. The city-state limits car ownership among its residents and has built effective public transportation systems, which has helped reduce pollution and crowding on streets and highways. Singapore’s public transit system helps residents navigate the city, along with biking and walking.

Source: ecowatch.com

Stopping Global Warming is Only Way to Save Great Barrier Reef, Scientists Warn

17.03.2017

The survival of the Great Barrier Reef hinges on urgent moves to cut global warming because nothing else will protect coral from the coming cycle of mass bleaching events, new research has found.

The study of three mass bleaching events on Australian reefs in 1998, 2002 and 2016 found coral was damaged by underwater heatwaves regardless of any local improvements to water quality or fishing controls.

The research, authored by 46 scientists and published in Nature, raises serious questions about Australia’s long-term conservation plan for its famous reef, which invests heavily in lifting water quality but is silent on climate-change action.

The researchers said the findings of their paper, Global Warming and Recurrent Mass Bleaching of Corals, applied to coral reefs worldwide.

Its publication comes the same day its lead author, Terry Hughes, is due to embark on an aerial survey to confirm the extent of another mass bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef.

It is the first mass bleaching to occur for a second consecutive year on the reef, which suffered its worst ever damage in 2016 when 22% of coral was killed off in a single hit.

The study, which was unable to take in the effects of the latest event, warned a fourth mass bleaching event “within the next decade or two” gave the badly damaged northern section of the reef a “slim” chance of ever recovering to its former state.

Hughes said the latest event, which was notable for having nothing to do with the warming effect of El Niño weather patterns, highlighted how research on mass bleaching, even when fast-tracked, was unable to keep pace with the reef’s current state.

“It broke my heart to see so many corals dying on northern reefs on the Great Barrier Reef in 2016,” Hughes said.

“With rising temperatures due to global warming, it’s only a matter of time before we see more of these events. A fourth event after only one year would be a major blow to the reef.”

Hughes said he hoped coming weeks would “cool off quickly and this year’s bleaching won’t be anything like last year”.

“The severity of the 2016 bleaching was off the chart.”

Hughes, the convener of the National Coral Bleaching Taskforce, said the study clearly showed the need for climate change action in Australia’s reef conservation plan.

He said it also showed the folly of Australian and Queensland government support for one of the world’s largest coalmines, Adani’s proposed Carmichael mine, which will export coal in ships through reef waters.

This was not only because of the carbon emissions from the coal, but also from dredging and marine traffic through the reef.

The publication of the research comes the same week as Queensland government officials meet with Unesco officials in Paris to appeal for more time to make good on conservation efforts to ward off an “in-danger” listing for the reef. It also coincides with a visit by the Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, to India to lobby Adani to proceed with its mine plan.

The study found that 91% of coral on the reef had suffered from bleaching over the past two decades.

The researchers concluded that “local management of coral reef fisheries and water quality affords little, if any, resistance to recurrent severe bleaching events: even the most highly protected reefs and near-pristine areas are highly susceptible to severe heat stress.”

“On the remote northern Great Barrier Reef, hundreds of individual reefs were severely bleached in 2016 regardless of whether they were zoned as no-entry, no-fishing, or open to fishing, and irrespective of inshore–offshore differences in water quality.”

Likewise, past exposure to bleaching, or relative resistance among certain corals to minor bleaching, gave no protection in the face of severe heat stress, the study found.

Local protection of fish stocks and improved water quality “may, given enough time, improve the prospects for recovery”.

“However, bolstering resilience will become more challenging and less effective in coming decades because local interventions have had no discernible effect on resistance of corals to extreme heat stress, and, with the increasing frequency of severe bleaching events, the time for recovery is diminishing.

“Securing a future for coral reefs, including intensively managed ones such as the Great Barrier Reef, ultimately requires urgent and rapid action to reduce global warming.”

Bleaching comes when heat stress forces corals to expel tiny photosynthetic algae, which leaves them stark white.

Prolonged heat stress will kill the corals, but death rates take at least six months to confirm.

The researchers said fast-growing coral took 10-15 years to fully recover while longer-lived corals “necessarily take many decades”.

This kind of “sustained absence of another severe bleaching event (or other significant disturbance) … is no longer realistic while global temperatures continue to rise”, they said.

Source: theguardian.com

UK Climate Targets ‘Will Raise Household Energy Bills by £100 in a Decade’

17.03.2017

The cost of supporting new windfarms and nuclear power stations to meet the UK’s carbon targets will add nearly £100 to the average household energy bill by the end of the next decade, according to a government adviser.

But the Committee on Climate Change said it expected the increase to be more than offset by savings as people switched to more efficient fridge freezers, LED bulbs and better boilers.

The committee, a body of experts set up under the Climate Change Act to advise the government, found that a rise of £105, or 9%, to the average £1,160 dual fuel bill in 2016 was down to green policies. These included subsidies for windfarms and solar power through schemes such as the Renewables Obligation. A report by the committee predicts that meeting the UK’s carbon targets would see the cost of the subsidies rise to £200 of an average bill of £1,350 by 2030.

However, other factors were involved in the net increase. The committee also calculated that rising wholesale energy costs and other issues will add more than £200 a year to bills, while an ongoing switch to more energy-efficient appliances and gadgets is expected to save £150.

Matthew Bell, chief executive of the committee, told the Guardian that he thought it was worth spending the money on climate policies. “The reason we’re acting to reduce our emissions is climate change poses real risks, real risks to the UK as well as round the world.”

The cost was relatively modest, he said, adding: “What our analysis says quite clearly is that as a proportion of total energy costs, climate costs are a small minority portion. The vast majority of your energy bill is accounted by other things, like wholesale costs and transmission costs.”

Five of the big six energy suppliers have announced price hikes over the winter, sparking calls for a cap on bills.

Three energy companies outside of the major supplier group, including Bristol-based Ovo, which has 680,000 customers, and smaller suppliers Octopus and Utility Warehouse, signalled their support on Thursday for a relative price cap. The cap has been proposed by the Conservative MP John Penrose and would limit the gap between the best and worst deals on the market. About 50 MPs have backed a motion to be debated in parliament on Thursday, on the need to protect consumers on standard variable tariffs, which are the most common deal for British households.

Some of the energy companies, such as German-owned E.ON, laid the blame for their rises partly on the cost of supporting green policies. But the Committee on Climate Change said that such policies had in fact shaved £290 a year off the average household energy bill between 2008 and 2016, because they had encouraged a shift to A-rated fridge freezers, condensing boilers and a swing away from incandescent lightbulbs to energy-saving ones.

Bell said that future progress on more energy-efficient appliances was slowing slightly, but there was still potential for huge savings. “We’re still seeing only 1% of lighting being LEDs. And what we’ve not factored in at all is what IT will do for how we manage energy in our homes.”

The committee said British households’ energy costs are not high compared to the rest of Europe. Residential electricity prices are below average, and gas prices the third lowest among 15 EU countries.

Despite the government recently announcing a review into energy costs for businesses, the committee said climate policies were adding relatively little to companies’ bills and had not affected UK plc’s competitiveness.

Rebecca Williams, energy specialist at WWF, said: “This report shows that energy companies are wrong to blame the increase in energy bills solely on UK government policies. It is clear that the main driver here is rising fossil fuel costs.”

Source: theguardian.com

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